Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Half-Elf, Huh?

Reina and Han Gang-ho stared at each other for a moment.
‘What the heck? Why is he staring at me like that?’
Feeling her face heat up for no reason, Reina was the first to look away.

She then noticed that the three people were not wearing protective suits at all.
In fact, they were covered in traces of blood and stickiness.

‘It’s only just the First Siren that went off, so what on earth have they gone through already?’
That was the question troubling Reina.
However, even then, she felt that someone was looking at her intently.
When she glanced back, the man was still watching her.
His gaze seemed intensely warm.

‘Oh my? Could it be that he’s so captivated by my beauty even in a situation like this? What a guy.’
After a brief moment of disbelief, Reina couldn’t help but agree.
‘Well, my body isn’t exactly something that can be hidden by a protective suit.’

With that thought, Reina tossed her hair behind her ear and puffed out her chest, striking a pose.
At that very moment, her gaze unintentionally landed on Lisa’s chest, standing in front of her.
“……”
She quickly straightened up and took a more modest stance.

As Reina went from blushing to smiling, then back to modest, Gang-ho was looking quite serious.
[Name]: Reina Diaz.
[Affiliation]: General Affairs Department / Operations Team 4.
[Position]: Systems Operations Team Leader.
[…]: ……
[Race]: Half-Elf / First Mutant.
[Traits]: Element Affinity (Racial Trait). Executor.
[Level]: Lv. 5
[Enhancement]: 50%
[Attributes]: Transparency. Acceleration. Skin Hardening.
[Special Skills]: Annihilation. Dual-wield Specialization.
[Support Skills]: Element Extraction. Leap.

Gang-ho couldn’t take his eyes off the information about Reina displayed before him.
Nothing was easy to understand.

The most baffling item was her ‘Race’.
‘A Half-Elf, huh.’
It was hard to believe that an evolved life form other than humans existed on Earth, in the real world.
Her appearance was simply human.
With healthy, sun-kissed skin, long black wavy hair, and a fit physique, she looked like a typical Hispanic beauty.

There were no signs of the transparent skin or pointy ears commonly associated with elves anywhere to be found.
But still, he could guess there was at least some potential for it.

Gang-ho himself was already a First Mutant before the exposure.
He suspected it was due to the injection of special serum.
So could Reina be in a similar situation?
‘A Half, isn’t it?’

It was possible that through some experiment, her entire race could have been altered.
For example, being born from artificial insemination between humans and other species.

As he considered various possibilities, memories of the zombies and ragged golems they had fought just moments ago flashed in his mind.
‘Those crazy scientists! What on earth were they hiding and doing?’

Next came the question of ‘Traits’.
[Executor]

Considering Gang-ho’s trait, ‘Thunderstorm’, or Satoshi’s ‘Ninja’, it made sense, but he was curious about her role or significance.
However, looking at the attributes and special skills, he could make some guesses about her capabilities and specialties.
‘I’d say they lean towards combat skills specialized for close combat.’

The racial traits and support skills were similar.
If he assumed she was a Half-Elf, it wouldn’t be strange; it would be entirely natural.
So, to summarize, the likelihood that the unbelievable information about Reina was true was very high.
‘Well, thinking back over all that I’ve experienced so far, nothing’s impossible.’

Gang-ho decided to go along with it for now.
He’d surely learn the truth in due time.

“But where did you come from?”
The question came to Gang-ho, who was somewhat aimlessly staring at Reina while lost in thought.
“I came up from the 10th floor.”
Reina’s response surprised Gang-ho.
“What? Really?!”

The others seemed to understand why Reina was so shocked.
“I thought there were no survivors coming up….”
“Yeah, I get it. We barely survived ourselves. The whole 10th floor has been blown up, so it’s understandable to think that.”

Reina then asked,
“So, are you four the only survivors from the 10th underground floor?”
“…..”

Lisa nodded silently with a sorrowful expression.
Then she turned to Gang-ho.
It brought back the countless zombies and incomprehensible creatures they had fought through to get here.
‘They were the ones who should have survived and come up…’

Gang-ho felt a complex mix of emotions from the gaze she cast upon him.
He shared the same feelings.
At the last second before they activated the elevator’s emergency device, Gang-ho saw the rising rails of the elevator collapsing in real-time.
Lisa and Satoshi were horrified.
It wasn’t just the frayed nerves of being unable to rest until the very last moment.
They hadn’t realized it would mean a lockdown.

Of course, Gang-ho knew.
It was explained in the disaster manual.
‘I should have explained it beforehand.’
Just being able to arrive at the 9th floor alive was a fortune in itself.
He had no way to save a large number of people in the first place; his goal was just to save those who were with him.

But the emptiness in his heart was unavoidable.
So, the three of them were unable to share the joy of survival.
Moreover, the loud sirens that greeted their feeble exit from the elevator made matters worse.
Wee-aaaah!
Before they could even feel relieved about arriving on the 9th floor, the blaring noise caused them all to shudder simultaneously.
Perhaps the siren’s sound had already become a trauma; it felt as if his brain had stopped thinking, leaving his body paralyzed.

– I’m so thankful you’re here, Gang-ho.
That was Lisa’s solemn remark as soon as they entered the shelter under Gang-ho’s guidance.
It was her heartfelt emotion.
The moment she first regained consciousness in the clinic and saw Gang-ho, she nearly burst into tears.
From that moment, she instinctively began to rely on him.
It was something like an instinct, akin to a duckling’s imprinting.

The ensuing moments contained no end of difficulty in their escape.
But ironically, she found no sense of insecurity.
Even as they ran and fought tirelessly for survival, her heart felt at ease whenever Gang-ho’s back was in her line of sight.
He was that kind of presence.
Was he even human? It left her bewildered; Gang-ho remained calm and composed under any circumstances.
He was always taciturn, and his emotional stability never wavered.
She found it hard to believe he was the same person who had undergone psychiatric counseling for PTSD.

As such thoughts raced through her mind like a slideshow, Gang-ho spoke in a low voice.
– If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have made it this far. You’ve worked hard.
Those blunt words sparked a strong desire in Lisa to hug him at that moment.
No, she intended to do just that.
But just then, a woman entered the scene.

‘Now that I think of it, we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.’
As she turned to the woman, who radiated the healthiness characteristic of a Hispanic beauty, she heard the introduction first.
“I didn’t get to introduce myself because I was in such a rush. I’m Reina.”
“I was just thinking that too! I’m Lisa, this is Han Gang-ho, and over there is Satoshi. And this is Wolf.”

While introducing everyone on behalf of the group, Lisa also introduced Henry, who was curled up a little away from the group.
“Oh, and Dr. Henry is from the Level 9 Research Institute. He was here before we arrived.”

The middle-aged man still sat with a pale face and dull eyes, despite having his name mentioned.
‘This is strange, definitely.’
Just then, Satoshi’s expression caught her eye.
The usually loquacious Satoshi was quiet and pale, which was worrying, but surprisingly, his expression seemed bright.
And his gaze was fixed on Reina.
More precisely, it scanned her chest, waist, and hips as if it were analyzing them.

‘He always had that expression when he looked at me.’
His eyes sparkled, and the corners of his mouth turned slightly upward, twitching.
She hadn’t realized it when she looked at him, but through the eyes of a third party, she finally understood what that gaze meant.
“Satoshi, is that what it was?”
Her thoughts escaped her lips before she could hold them back.
Lisa’s brow furrowed, and her mouth pressed shut.

At the implication of her endless commentary, Satoshi flinched and waved his hands in denial.
“Ah, no, it wasn’t!”
He seemed unsure of what he was denying.
Idly, he started petting Wolf, who was sprawled comfortably beside him, to distract himself.
“Ahem, ahem.”

After quickly finishing the simple introductions, the two standing women began to exchange information earnestly.
With everyone being highly skilled doctors in their respective fields, they didn’t miss the essentials.
Gang-ho listened attentively to their conversation while focusing on observing the changes in his companions’ attributes.
[Name]: Lisa Azbel.
[…]: ………
[Traits]: Element Sorceress.
[Level]: Lv. 3
[Enhancement]: 35%
[Attributes]: Four Elements (Fire Specialization).
[Special Skill]: Elemental Transformation.
[…]: ………

Her level had gone up.
And her traits and attributes had changed.
It could be said that she had become more specialized.
The same went for Satoshi and Wolf.
[Name]: Satoshi Hanzou.
[…]: ………
[Level]: Lv. 2
[Enhancement]: 60%
[Attributes]: Ninja (Guard Specialization).
[Special Skills]: Stealth, Throwing, Escort.
[…]: ………

Especially for Wolf, after mixing it up with zombies on the front lines alongside Gang-ho, the amount of energy cores he absorbed allowed him to rise by two levels.
[Name]: Wolf
[…]: ………
[Level]: Lv. 4
[Enhancement]: 5%
[Attributes]: Physical.
[Special Skills]: Charge. Crush.
[Support Skills]: Alert. Guard. Search. Probe. Threat (Taunt). Escort.
[…]: ………

Gang-ho reflected on the changes among the listed skills regarding supplementary skills that could also be classified as such.
‘Experience; that’s all reflected. That’s the common change among the three of them.’

Then why was there a difference in my attribute change?
Gang-ho discovered something unusual in his status screen.

[To be continued]